There are just 77 days before a deadly asteroid collides with Earth, and Detective Palace is out of a job. With the Concord police force operating under the auspices of the U.S. Justice Department, Hank's days of solving crimes are over...until a woman from his past begs for help finding her missing husband.
Brett Cavatone disappeared without a trace-an easy feat in a world with no phones, no cars, and no way to tell whether someone's gone "bucket list" or just gone. With society falling to shambles, Hank pieces together what few clues he can, on a search that leads him from a college-campus-turned-anarchist-encampment to a crumbling coastal landscape where anti-immigrant militia fend off "impact zone" refugees.
Countdown City presents another fascinating mystery set on brink of an apocalypse-and once again, Hank Palace confronts questions way beyond "whodunit." What do we as human beings owe to one another? And what does it mean to be civilized when civilization is collapsing all around you?
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['It's just that he promised,' says Martha Milano, pale eyes flashing, cheeks flushed with anxiety]***
(@quirkbooks, 16 July 2013, 238 pages, ebook, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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This picks up where the first book, The Last Policeman left off. The deadly asteroid is even closer to colliding with earth. The world has become a place of mostly chaos with people enjoying and living out what's assumed to be their last days alive. Palace is at a loss because the US Justice Department has effectively taken over the police. So of course he can't say no when an old flame seeks his help in finding her missing husband. This is impressive as the first book and is one of the most original dystopian books I've come across and I read the genre a lot. I remain fascinated by Palace's determination to seek justice and not give into the madness around him. I've borrowed the final book and look forward to seeing how it all ends, especially given the startling conclusion to Countdown City.
